


everything changes but one thing is true

by JillianEmily



Series: marching band au [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Drama, F/F, Humor, Jealousy, Marching Band AU, Romance, basically percy is jealous of Luke because Luke is an ass, percabeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28367895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillianEmily/pseuds/JillianEmily
Summary: In which Percy graduates, and Annabeth is alone on the first day of band camp, just trying to make her way through it all. Part 2 of More Than A Band
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: marching band au [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2077491
Comments: 4
Kudos: 81





	everything changes but one thing is true

**Author's Note:**

> happy belated birthday to my dearest chloe! my first pjo friend. the person i yell about percy jackson to. love u
> 
> also this takes place during annabeth's senior year, so that whole portion during year 4 of the original au

It’s something that Annabeth has to get used to.

It doesn’t take long for her to learn that she might not ever get used to it. Percy was the person who was always there by her side, and—

Now he wasn’t.

It was only three years with him, but it feels like it had been a lifetime. When she was only fourteen, she met him on the first day of band camp. She had no idea that she would become his best friend, or that they would start dating when she turned sixteen. She hadn’t known that she would become as reliant on him as she had. Even as it was happening, as she was falling deeper in love with him every day, she had never been aware that they were two in one.

It wasn’t until she was left without him that she _really_ realized just how terrible things were going to get. Not because they were going to fall out of love, but just because he wasn’t _there_ anymore. People grow apart when they’re not together. It just makes sense.

It’s that simple.

Percy, who she had spoken to every single day for the last three years, was no longer the first person she got to see in the morning. He was an hour away at college, and she wasn’t. It was only one year, if that. He was only an hour away, but it was far enough that she couldn’t go to him when she needed to anymore.

He was so close, but so far.

That’s what hurt the most.

Annabeth thought she would be able to do it. She still hopes they could, but standing here, she already knows that they’re going to have to fight like hell if they want to make it through this. It’s going to be an agonizing year. One of stress, and one of heartbreak. He was so good to her. He’s done nothing to make her think he was going to leave her. He did _everything_ to reassure her that she was his one and only.

Still, she knew that things would end one of two ways.

How did she know?

It’s the first day of band camp, and Percy’s not here.

* * *

Annabeth bites at the skin of her thumb, looking around the marching field anxiously. Her heart was racing, though she doesn’t know if it’s from the blazing sun or the thought of being here alone. Being the lead drum major was already so much more work than she had expected it to be. She was constantly being scolded by the director because she wasn’t doing things right.

By _right_ , she means she wasn’t doing them like Percy would’ve. There were comparisons being thrown around the band, both right in front of her and behind her back. Some people tried to defend her, but most of them didn’t. The band loved Percy, and they had grown just as attached to him as she had been.

It wasn’t that she was doing a bad job, because she knew she wasn’t. They just missed him. Things were different without his smile to light them up. His passion for music is what kept the band motivated, and without him, it was just _different._ She didn’t conduct the same way, and she didn’t act the same way. Her temper was short, and she wasn’t as friendly as him.

Piper slides in beside her, looking at her sympathetically. “You okay?”

Annabeth doesn’t stop looking into the distance, trying to distract herself with the clouds slowly flowing over them. She inhales deeply, biting at the inside of her cheek. “I’m fine.”

“What they said wasn’t okay,” Piper says. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not Percy, and that’s enough reason for them.”

They fall back into silence, Annabeth watching as a freshman trips over one of the instruments shining from the grass. How the kid missed it with the sun illuminating the brass, she’ll never know.

Annabeth tries to make it through the rest of the day without crying. Every other day of band camp so far has ended with her in tears. She was determined to not let the same thing happen again today. She did manage to make it relatively far without having a breakdown.

It wasn’t until she heard Percy’s voice over the phone that she broke apart.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpers, trying to smother her cries with the back of her hand. She was standing in the secluded hallway behind the band room, leaning against a brick wall with her phone pressed to her ear. “I wasn’t going to call, but—”

“What’s going on?” Percy’s voice is concerned but steady over the line.

“I just needed to—” She hiccups. “Talk to someone.”

“Did something happen?”

“Nothing _happened,”_ she tries to explain through her shaking voice. “They keep comparing me to you. _Everything_ I do is wrong to them, and I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“Annabeth.”

Annabeth whimpers, wiping the tears from her eyes harshly. “What?”

“You have to step up and say something.”

“Like what? I’m going to tell them that I’m not as good at being drum major as my boyfriend was, but deal with it? When someone starts yelling at me, I’m just going to turn around and start yelling back?” She snorts. “That’s a fast way to lose my position.”

“Annabeth. You’ve called me crying every single day this week. You can’t keep letting them do this to you.”

“I’m obviously doing something wrong, or something they just don’t like, and...” She tries to take a deep breath but fails. “It just sucks when it’s all I’m hearing.”

“I know that you’re not doing anything wrong. Do you know why?”

“Why?” she asks miserably.

“Because I was with you last year. I know how you lead the band. You know what you’re doing.”

“Maybe I don’t.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Second guess yourself. You know what you’re doing, and I’m willing to bet that you’re doing it better than I ever did. They’re just being dicks.”

“But _why?_ ” she cries. “What did I do to make the entire band see me as a failure? I don’t know what changed from last year to now.”

“Nothing changed. They just think it did, and you need to go knock that into their minds, or else I will.”

"I can already see it happening,” Annabeth says. “You show up to yell at everyone, and the second you leave, they start making fun of me for being a tattletale.”

“Well, I wouldn’t quite do it like that,” he says, prompting Annabeth to give a pained laugh. “I’m serious though. I’ll talk to Chiron myself if I need to. Just please don’t listen to them.”

“I’m trying,” is all she can say.

Percy sighs, and she hears him shuffle over the phone. “Aside from that, how are you?”

Annabeth tries to ground herself, looking around the empty hallway. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

“It’s different without you here. No one to really talk to anymore.”

“Oh, that can’t be true. I can list about ten people off the top of my head that I know you’re constantly with.”

“No one I really _want_ to talk to,” she corrects. “I didn’t think it would be this bad without you here.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It breaks my heart to hear you like this, Annabeth.”

She doesn’t say anything.

“I’ll try to come home as soon as I can.”

“This is pathetic,” she says. “You haven’t even been gone a month and I’ve already lost my sense of who I am. You don’t need to drive down here for me.”

“It’ll come back soon,” he jokes. “But I’m not coming down for _you._ You do realize that _I_ want to see you too, right?”

“I’d hope so.”

“So I’ll see you soon then.” Someone says something over the phone, and Percy responds back. A few moments later, he’s back to talking to her. “Listen, baby, I have to go soon.”

“Oh.”

“Talk tonight?”

“Sure.” She can imagine the frown he must have on his face right now. It dawns on her that she has no idea where he is or who he’s with, and it creates an uncomfortable bubbling in the pit of her stomach.

“I love you,” he says.

“Love you too.”

Annabeth thinks he’s going to hang up on her now, but instead he goes silent. She knows he’s still there from the breathing on his end, but he doesn’t say anything for a few more seconds.

“Do you remember our promise?”

Annabeth bites her lip to stop the wrangled sob from working its way up her throat. “Yeah.”

“What was it?”

“That we were forever.”

“Exactly,” he says. “You’re my forever, okay? You can call me, or text me, or whatever. I want to hear from you.”

“I don’t want to bother you.”

“You won’t be,” he says. “If you need something, I will always be one phone call away. If things get really bad and you need me, I will be there. You just say the word.”

A silent tear falls from her face. “Okay.”

“I love you,” he says again.

The line goes dead before she can even say the words back.

Her heart feels like it’s broken into two. She hated this feeling. She hated being weak. She didn’t want people to feel pity for her or change the way they spoke when they were around her as though she was made of glass. It was the same way she hated being sick because people would tiptoe around her, wanting to make sure she was okay. Annabeth doesn’t want people to make sure she was okay; she wants people to treat her the way they treat anyone else.

It was why she hated when Percy spoke to her like that. She knew he had good intentions. He did it because he cared about her, and she did really appreciate it, in small doses. But recently, it was as though Percy only ever saw that side of her anymore — the whiny, miserable side of her — and it made her feel sick. He shouldn’t have to put up with her like she was a toddler. She should be stronger than this.

So she stands there and cries. She cries because she wants this to be the last time she does so. After this moment, she isn’t going to let herself break down like this. She is so much stronger than what she knows she’ll see if she looks in the mirror right now. The band doesn’t deserve someone who is so far gone mentally that she doesn’t know her left from her right, and Percy doesn’t either.

She isn’t sure how long she stands there for, leaning her weight against the wall and letting herself feel this flood of emotions. It feels oddly similar to drowning, but she knows that she won’t.

It isn’t until someone clears their throat behind her that she straightens, wiping her face on the rim of her — _Percy’s_ — t-shirt. When she turns around, it’s a guy that she doesn’t recognize. He’s looking at her, his face morphs into concern, and she wonders why he cares at all. He doesn’t know her.

Still, the guy asks, “Are you okay?”

Annabeth looks away, still trying to wipe the tears. It doesn’t do anything to stop the continuous stream falling from her eyes.

She hears the guy walk up behind her. He stops, and she feels his eyes burning holes into the back of her head, but then he’s pressing a hand to her back in an attempt to offer comfort. She doesn’t know what prompts her to do what she does next, but before she can stop herself, she’s turning in his arms and letting him hold her as she cries.

And she does. She sobs until she can’t anymore. It’s worse than before because now she isn’t alone. There’s a stranger hugging her, and it’s more affection than she’s received from anyone in what feels like forever. She suspects she’s crying now simply because this other person was there. It was the same thing that happens when you see a friend, just barely holding it together, and they ask you how you are. The entire dam breaks, and everything comes pouring out.

The poor guy that stumbled into her lets her stay against him. His hands respectfully stay on her back as her tears probably soak into his shirt. It takes a while, but she does begin to calm down enough to pull away from him, avoiding looking him in the eyes.

“Sorry,” she mutters.

“You’re fine,” he says. “Don’t worry about it.”

For the first time, she lets herself actually look at who was standing in front of her. His eyes were a vibrant blue, and his hair sandy blonde. She recognizes the face, but she has no idea who he is. The guy hesitates, looking at her, and then he’s stalking off. She thinks she must’ve scared him off, another _amazing_ accomplishment of hers, but less than a minute later, he’s returning to her side, a paper towel in hand.

“I tried to get a tissue,” he says when she stares at it instead of taking it from him, “but I couldn’t find any. I got this from the bathroom, but I promise I washed my hands first.”

Annabeth laughs lightly, fingers grabbing onto it. “Thanks.”

The guy leans on the wall beside her now, watching as she dabs the paper under her eyes. She’s glad she didn’t wear makeup today because there’s no doubt that it would’ve been everywhere _but_ her face by this point.

“So,” the guy starts. “Are you okay? Like, actually?”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look very fine.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not about to indulge my life secrets with someone who I don’t even know.”

And that’s when he smiles cheekily, holding a hand out to her. “Luke Castellan.”

Annabeth eyes him but accepts the greeting. “Annabeth.”

“I know.” He smirks. “I’m in the band. I think I’d know my own drum major.”

Annabeth doesn’t say anything. She just keeps drying her eyes.

“But you know who I am now, so speak.”

“I know your name,” she corrects, “but I don’t know you.”

“Fair enough.” Luke straightens slightly, smiling widely. “I’m Luke Castellan, senior. I play the saxophone.”

“My boyfriend plays that,” she says.

"Oh, trust me. I know that too. You think _you_ have it bad with everyone comparing you to him? Try having them tell you that you’ll never play as good as he did.”

Annabeth blinks, surprised. “They said that to you?”

“Terrible, right? People suck.”

“They really do.”

“I’m assuming that’s what was going on back here?” Luke asks gently.

Annabeth doesn’t have the strength to lie to him. He’s already seen her at her worst, and she’s only known him for two minutes now. “Yeah.”

“I’d say I’m sorry, but that’s probably not what you want to hear.”

“Not really,” she agrees.

Luke hums, thinking for a moment. “Well, I take it you’re the type of person to want to just stand strong and keep going, am I correct?”

“Some might say you are.”

“Then I’m just going to go on ahead with this. We’re kind of going through the same thing — you have it worse, of course — but I’m _lonely_ so please be my friend.”

Annabeth thinks she might have just been flung back to middle school. “I’m sorry?”

"I just caught you crying your eyes out back here, and I let you make my shirt all wet and gross—”

Annabeth gives a tense smile.

“—which is fine, but I think you should be my friend. Especially because I’m new here and have no expectations for you based off of the man they call Percy. Therefore, I won’t yell at you even when you’re doing nothing wrong. Befriend me.”

It’s the weirdest thing Annabeth’s heard in such a long time. Five minutes ago, she was crying harder than she has in her entire life, and now she’s standing in front of a saxophone player named Luke Castellan that was demanding she _befriend_ him.

Still, there’s something inside of her that was broken the second that Percy left. It’s been in the background, making her heart throb, keeping her awake at night. She planned to hold him to that promise of forever because she really was in love with him, but he didn’t deserve to have to listen to every single one of her worries. They probably meant nothing to him at this point, and she wouldn’t be surprised if he only listened to her because he felt obligated to.

Percy didn’t need to hear her complain about how sad her life was. And this was the least miserable she’s felt since Percy moved away. She had to keep her superficial high school worries out of her relationship with Percy because he deserved so much more.

And so she cracked a grin, her eyes still red and face puffy, and from that moment on, their friendship began.

* * *

Things got a lot better over the next few weeks. People began to adjust to being in a band without Percy. Annabeth slowly got the hang of conducting beside Piper instead of Percy, and things felt like they were starting to go back to normal.

Over time, Annabeth, Piper, and Luke all began to grow closer too. There weren’t many seniors in the band this year, and those that were in it clearly didn’t want to be. They slowly became the trio that did everything together.

“Where is he?” Annabeth whines, stomping her foot against the metal bleachers.

“He’s _coming,_ ” Piper says, pretending to be annoyed. Annabeth knows the truth though. Piper admitted in the wee hours of the morning that she thought Percy and Annabeth were adorable, and Annabeth would never let Piper live it down.

“Who’s coming?” Luke asks, appearing over her shoulder.

“Percy,” Annabeth says, looking down at her phone.

“Oh, yes, the famous Percy I’ve never met before. Which I still find insulting, by the way. You very well could’ve introduced us by now.”

“All other times I was with Percy since I met you was for the two of us only. Sorry, but I didn’t make the rules.”

“Trust me when I say that I know. I have had to listen to you and Piper talk about sex in the middle of fifth period _way_ too often.”

“Then don’t sit behind us,” Piper says.

“It’s _assigned seating_.”

“Sounds like a you problem,” Annabeth says, looking up from her phone for the first time. “Go sit down with your section, Luke.”

“This is an abuse of power.”

“I’m drum major and you’re not.”

“Piper didn’t tell me I have to sit.”

“Book it, Castellan,” Piper says. “We start in five minutes.”

Percy doesn’t make it in time for the beginning of the game, having had to rush from class and drive the hour to reach them. She keeps an eye in the crowd when she’s on the podium, but there’s no sign of him. She’s a little bit sad when she doesn’t see him there in time for their halftime show, but she knows that he tried, and she convinces herself it’s not that big of a deal since she gets to spend the rest of the weekend with him anyways.

By the time the band is marching off the field, Annabeth is breathing heavily. The uniform never seems to get easier, and the heavy fabric is definitely no help. They circle up in a corner behind the stadium so that Chiron can give his usual spiel, and then they’re released for their third quarter break. Annabeth immediately makes a run for the stands, wanting to get there before the rest of the one-hundred-fifty kids get there.

As she’s running alongside Piper, someone reaches a hand out to grab her wrist, nearly sending her sprawling to the ground. They catch her by the waist, dragging her to their chest, and Annabeth turns around to scold whoever it was. All thoughts leave her mind the second she sees him standing there, grinning widely.

“ _Percy,_ ” she breathes, pressing herself back into his arms. He laughs, that beautiful laugh she’s missed for far too long, as he squeezes her tighter, swaying them back and forth.

“Hey, you,” he says when she pulls away, looking her in the eyes. He looks so vibrant, his green eyes swirling under the night sky. She’s missed this.

Annabeth smiles widely as Percy brings her face to his, settling his lips over hers. He stays there for a few seconds, making up for the few weeks it’s been. It’s like a breath of fresh air, and she can’t bring herself to pull away.

“Missed you,” she says against them. Their teeth clash together, but he just pulls her closer. She’s sure there are other people watching them, but right now, she couldn’t care less.

She nearly whines when he pulls away, trying to go back in for a second kiss, but he moves his face away from her. She settles for peppering kisses along his jaw and neck, anywhere he can reach. Percy laughs into the top of her head, lifting her chin so he can press one more kiss to her lips before stepping away entirely.

“You’re here,” she breathes, radiating excitement.

“Of course I’m here,” he says. “I wouldn’t miss it!”

“But you missed the show.”

Percy makes a sound of disagreement. “I was here and let me say — you looked _hot_ up on that podium. Makes me long for my days of high school football games.”  
  
Annabeth snorts. “Cause you’re so old that you’ve forgotten what it’s like, right?”

“Exactly.” Percy drags his arm around her waist and tugs her so that she’s standing right in front of him. She’s a head shorter than him so she has to tilt her head up, and it always used to annoy her, but now she’s just happy to have him here at all. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” she breathes, bouncing on her toes excitedly. “I’m so excited.”

Percy’s thumb caresses her cheek. His eyes trace over her face. “You’re too cute.”

Annabeth seers up for another kiss, and he obliges her for a few more seconds. It feels like eternity since she’s been able to just do this with him. His peppered kisses all over her face, tracing her nose and her ears and lips, make her feel tingly inside. She nuzzles her face in his neck, and she’s about to tell him just how much she loves him, even though she’s already said it, because that’s just how she feels, but then Piper’s popping up, interrupting them. Annabeth only turns her head to glare at the girl, keeping her arms tangled with his.

“Did you need something?” Annabeth asks. Percy snorts lowly in her ear, and Annabeth preens.

“I want to be included in this heartwarming moment,” Piper says.

“McLean,” Percy greets, looking her up and down. “You look good in the drum major uniform.”

Piper looks down, brushing her hands over the black jacket, her fingers catching on the silver sash. “Much better than you ever did.”

“Ouch.”

“Your girlfriend, on the other hand?” Piper whistles. “Hot.”

“Oh, I know,” Percy says, tickling Annabeth’s side, tracing his lips along her neck. “She’s mine.”

Annabeth shoves his face away with the heel of her hand, worming her way out from his grasp. She feels kind of lightheaded, as though this isn’t actually happening. It feels like it’s been so long since she’s seen him, and she doesn’t even know how to deal with the happiness bubbling inside her.

Percy and Piper exchange a few remarks, but Annabeth isn’t listening. Instead, she focuses on Percy’s face and the way his eyes light up as he smiles. She savors the way his lips give a lopsided twitch, or his black hair is ruffled in the slight New York wind. Percy catches her staring, and the slight smirk makes her stomach tingle and fingers twitch to reach up and run over his face, memorizing the feel of him.

Annabeth is startled out of her reverie as another person makes themselves known, and Annabeth recognizes them as none other than Luke. He peers around Annabeth to get a glance at Percy, his eyes welcoming.

“Hey!” Luke greets, extending his hand out. “You must be one of Annabeth’s friends! I don’t think we’ve met before.”

Annabeth’s smile falters because just the way he says it sounds wrong to her ears. She _knows_ Luke knows about Percy, and she’s almost certain he knows what he looks like, so when Percy raises an eyebrow in disbelief, there’s an awkward feeling that rises in her stomach.

“I’m Luke. Annabeth’s best friend.”

Percy’s face falls and his eyes flicker towards Annabeth. Annabeth is just as surprised as Percy, but she isn’t sure what to say, so she just laughs awkwardly. She doesn’t think she’s ever heard Luke call her that, and she doesn’t know that she particularly likes it either.

“Well, Annabeth’s best friend,” Percy says, still friendly but a hint of steel to it. “I’m Percy, Annabeth’s _boyfriend._ ”

Luke’s eyes widen slightly, and he freezes, dropping his hand back to his side. “Oh. I had no idea. It’s nice to meet you.”

Percy’s smile is tight. “You’re Annabeth’s best friend?”

“I’d consider us best friends,” Luke responds.

“Huh.”

“What?”

“I’ve heard of you before, but never as best friend. Usually as just the person that plays saxophone.” And now Percy’s eyeing Annabeth with something foreign in his eyes, but it’s gone as fast as it appeared. “Well, it’s nice to meet you too,” Percy says kindly. Annabeth can tell that something’s off, but she decides not to say anything.

From that point on, Percy becomes very clingy. He spends the rest of the night hovering by her side protectively, glaring into empty space. She doesn’t mind it at all. She’s missed him so much, and she can’t even begin to express just how nice it feels to have him wrapped around her, to feel his body warmth against hers. It pains her when she has to pull away from him for the rest of the night so she can conduct fourth quarter, but it goes by so much faster when he watches her, grinning proudly as her and Piper mess around dancing to _Hey Baby._

His eyes are so warm and loving, and she can feel them on her all night. She’s so distracted by his presence that she almost misses the way that Percy’s eyes are now on Luke, and Luke’s eyes are now on her. It disappears as quickly as it had shown up, but now Percy’s smile has once again faded from his face, and it doesn’t take her too long to realize that there’s something up.

It’s not until they’re back at Piper’s house after the football game ends, the usual for Friday nights recently, that she gets the chance to acknowledge it.

They’re on a couch that’s really only made for one person, and Annabeth is splayed across his lap. He’s underneath her, holding her snugly by the waist, and she’s so comfortable that she could fall asleep. There are a few of her other friends there too — Leo and Piper and Hazel and _Luke —_ but they’re just talking and messing around, so she doesn’t really think anything of it.

“Did you see how the trumpets were acting?” Piper says to the group, snickering. “The two that broke up. They couldn’t even look at each other the entire time.”

Annabeth smiles. “You mean the two that dated for two days?”

“That’s them. Oh god, what are their names?”

Annabeth shrugs.

“Shouldn’t you know their names, Miss Drum Major?” Percy asks, tickling her side.

“I simply do not care,” she says. “Also Piper doesn’t know their names either, so we’re good.”

Percy kisses her neck, still laughing.

“You calling me a bad drum major, Percy?”

“Oh, I’d never.”  
  
“She’s the best drum major there is,” Luke tags on.

“Except for the fact that she can’t remember their names,” Leo says. “But I don’t blame her. The two that broke up are maybe fourteen, so they’re barely human.”

“And that’s why you don’t date inside of the band,” Luke says.

Percy blinks. “What do you mean that’s why we don’t date inside of the band?”

“I don’t know a single couple from a band that hasn’t broken up.”

“Besides Percy and Annabeth, you mean,” Piper chimes in. “I don’t think it’s possible for those to break up. They’re disgustingly in love.”

“They’re the epitome of love,” Leo agrees, “and sometimes it makes me want to vomit. Or cry. Why couldn’t Annabeth fall in love with me?”

Percy sneers playfully. “She’s mine, Valdez. Back off.”

“Not if I propose to her first,” he says winking. “I bet she’d say yes too.”

Percy pointedly kisses Annabeth.

“Statistically speaking, they probably will break up,” Luke says, and the entire mood goes crashing down. Everything is silent for a second as someone tries to find words to speak.

It hurts Annabeth’s feelings more than she cares to admit, knowing her friend thinks that her and Percy won’t make it when they’ve made it this far. It’s not true, and she knows it’s not true, because they’ve promised to be there for each other forever. Still, somewhere very far in the back of her mind, the thought makes her blood run cold. Maybe she just can’t see it, but Luke’s saying that he can, and that worries her.

“Why would you say that?” Percy says. His voice is strong and steady, but it is dripping with a foreign heat.

“I’m just saying that most high school sweethearts don’t ever get married, and if they do, it typically ends in divorce.”

“But what gives _you_ the right to say that about someone else’s relationship? In what world is that okay?”

Luke suddenly looks majorly uncomfortable. “I was just stating the facts.”

“The _facts_ are that you don’t know us. You haven’t been there for most of our relationship, or anything leading up to it, and you had _no right_ to say that we’re going to break up.”

“You need to relax.”

“ _Luke._ ” Annabeth stares at him, completely appalled. She’s never seen him turn like this, practically simmering with anger. Luke looks like he wants to punch Percy in the face, and it alarms her because he’s never been anything but sweet, and Percy’s done nothing wrong. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s _wrong_ with me?”

“Are you sure?”  
  
“I’m sure.”

But the room still feels like it’s sparking with electricity, and the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Percy is tense beneath her, and she knows he’s upset, but his arm is still protectively around her, so she knows his anger is not directed towards her.

They settle into another silence that no one dares break. They’re all staring at the TV that’s playing a random movie, or into space. From her position on top of Percy, she can feel his heart beating fast. She waits another few minutes, until the initial frustration has fallen from his frame, before she tilts her head back to look at him.

“Hi,” she whispers, looking at him upside down. His green eyes are calmer than they were earlier, and there’s even a flash of love in his eyes as he looks at her.

“Hi,” he says, kissing her on the nose. “You okay?”

“Are _you?_ ”

Percy kisses her forehead now and nods. “I’m okay.”

She just keeps her eyes on him because she really loves the way that he’s looking at her like she’s the only thing that matters. His hand moves up to caress her cheek sweetly, and she really just wants to lay down next to him with no one there to see it.

“Do you want to leave?”

“Only if you want to,” is his response. It makes her feel cared for because despite the frustration she knows is somewhere deep inside of him, he’s putting her first. He’s making sure that she’s comfortable even if he’s not. It’s unfair to him, she decides.

“Let’s go then,” she says, pouting her lips for one more kiss.

It’s a quick two minutes of goodbyes before they’re both settled in his car. She’s comfortably curled up in the passenger seat, wrapped in his sweater that he’d pulled off of himself for her, and as he pulls out of Piper’s driveway, she watches him intently.

She doesn’t even notice that she’s been caught until Percy’s laughing at her in the dark.

“Enjoying the view?” he teases.

“Enjoying my hot boyfriend driving me around like I’m a princess? You know it.”

“Glad I’m providing you with entertainment.”  
  
Annabeth giggles softly, but she stays watching him. As they pass the lampposts outside, Percy’s face is repeatedly illuminated before going dark again. He looks like a work of art, and it makes her both happy to know that he is hers, and sad to know that he’s leaving in a few days again.

She shifts in her seat. “I’m sorry for earlier. I didn’t know he was going to act like that.”

“You said he was _nice._ ”

“He usually is,” she promises. “I don’t know why he was being an ass today.”

Percy snorts.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he says, but he’s still laughing. It’s not malicious – more humored than anything. “You just… you really don’t know why he acted like that?”

“Should I?”

“You’re smart,” Percy says, looking at the road. “Piece it together. He’s nice when it’s the two of you, but then your much sexier, funnier, nicer boyfriend shows up and he morphs into a monster?”

“Humble,” she praises.

“Let me guess. Before today, he’s never called himself your best friend.”

Annabeth scratches her head. “No.”

“Case in point.”

“What exactly is your case?” she asks, tugging one hand away from the steering wheel. He wordlessly laces their hands together.

“He likes you. And I guess he’s threatened by me, which he _better_ be cause I’ll kick his ass, so he’s just being a piece of shit like it’s going to make you fall in love with him.”

“I’m still stuck on the _he likes you_ part.”

“It’s not hard to believe. I don’t think you realize just how pretty you are, or how much attention guys give you. But Luke makes it painfully obvious and I don’t understand how you couldn’t see that. You’re with him at school every day, but I spend five minutes with him and can just tell.”

She really doesn’t know how she didn’t see it either because now that he’s brought it up, it’s glaringly obvious. She is unsure how to respond to that, so she just says, “So I’m _hot_ hot.”

“Yeah, you are, and you’re also my super sexy girlfriend. He simply cannot have you.”

“I don’t mind that at all,” she says, struggling across the center console so she can kiss him on the cheek. “I’m still sorry though.”

“It’s not anything you did. I just — I don’t like him very much. I’ve seen people who like you, but there’s something about him that doesn’t sit right with me. Can you just try to steer away from him?”

“I’m not going to let him _do_ anything,” she defends.  
  
“I know you’re not. I trust you.” He breathes deeply. “It’s him that I don’t trust.”

She knows what he means. There had been times when she’d felt the same way about Rachel, and when she asked him to distance himself, he’d listened, no questions asked. And she surely hadn’t been as kind as Percy is being now, so the least she can do is put up boundaries with Luke.

“Okay,” she says.

“I’m not saying I don’t want you two to be friends. It’s your senior year, and you should have fun. Just… be careful, please?”

“I will,” she promises. She leans back in her seat again so she can keep looking at him. She doesn’t know what she’s done to deserve someone as perfect as he is. She knows that she’s going to get to fall asleep in his arms tonight, and it makes her happy. It feels like eternity since the last time she got to just _be_ with him.

It sucks that it doesn’t get to be more often, but it helps keep her sane knowing that there’s always going to be their future together. In a year, they’ll both be in college, and then in two, maybe they’ll be living together. In three or four, there might be an engagement ring, and a wedding, and it makes her ecstatic to think of the things that are both so far and so close.

Her smile comes crashing back down when she thinks of Luke’s previous words.

It’s not true, she doesn’t think. She wants this to be her forever, and she’s promised that it is. But the future is cruel and unknown, and his words are stuck in her brain like a parasite. Her stomach drops for even _thinking_ something like that, and she feels the need to apologize to Percy because he’s sitting right there, oblivious to the dark train of thoughts in her mind.

She stays silent the rest of the way home, biting at her lips. She hears him distantly tell her to stop when she starts to bleed, so she instead moves to picking at her fingers instead. It doesn’t take long for those to start bleeding too.

It’s not until they’re both laying in the bed of his old room that she is tempted once again to talk to him. They have so many memories in this room. Over the years since she first met him, this has been the place they’d go. There have been endless movies and snacks eaten in that bed. Heartwarming cuddles and kisses have taken place here too. It’s where she lost her virginity to him, and really gave himself to him for the first time, and he deserves to know what she’s thinking.

“Do you think Luke’s right?”

She doesn’t have to elaborate any further for Percy to understand. “No, I don’t. I didn’t know that you did.”

“I don’t think he’s right,” she says. “But we don’t really know. I’m sure all those people thought they’d be the exception too. No one goes into a relationship expecting it to end.”

“We’re not like other people, are we?” He looks at her softly, and it helps calm her nerves. She can talk about this with him, and he won’t judge her for it. “We talk to each other and _make_ it work. What’s to say it won’t last?”

“Yeah, but what’s to say it will? I love you, but what if something insane happens and we break up?”

“Then there’s nothing we can do about that, but how about we don’t let it get that far?” Percy’s face presses into her back, between her shoulder blades where he kisses a few times. “I love you, and you love me, and we made a promise to each other. Just don’t give up on us, and I won’t either. We’ll be okay.”

She laughs incredulously. “I’m insane for even bringing it up, aren’t I?”

He shakes his head reassuringly. “I think there’s a difference between worrying that we’ll break up and thinking that it’ll actually happen. You can worry about something all you want – it just means we have something to lose. But _thinking_ it’ll happen is another story.”

“I don’t think it’ll happen,” she promises, sinking deeper into his embrace. “I just don’t want it to.”

“Good, because I don’t want it to either.” He breathes deeply, entangling his legs with hers. “It’s been a year since my senior night.”

She smiles. “That’s a long time.”

“It’s nothing compared to the time I plan to spend with you for the rest of my life,” he tells her, “but I made a promise, and so did you.”

“Forever,” she says.

“Exactly. That means you’re my girlfriend now, but you’re going to be my wife when we’re older, and we’re going to have cute babies.”

She hums. “What if I don’t want babies.”

“Then we’ll adopt cute cats.”

“I’m allergic to cats.”

“Oh no. We might have to rethink this whole _forever_ thing.”

She kicks him lightly. “I want cute babies, but only with you.”

Percy smiles into the skin of her back. “As you should.”

“How many kids?”

“I’m thinking ten.”  
  
“ _Ten?_ Babe, the sex isn’t that good.”

He laughs against her. “Sure. That’s why the director caught us halfway to it in a car before the Christmas parade?”

“That was _your_ fault,” she says. Her face lights up a bright red just thinking of that moment. “Do you think he really knew what was going on?”

“There’s no way he _didn’t_ know,” Percy says. “I’m just glad he never said anything.”

“I would have actually died on the spot,” she agrees. “It’s really not ideal for two drum majors to date because then things like _that_ happen.”

“Are you kidding? That’s what made my senior year so fun. All the sneaking around.”

“And then you graduated and left me all alone,” she pouts. “Couldn’t you have failed one or two classes so you could’ve stayed with me?”

“I had to get to college so I can graduate a year before you and start working! You’re an expensive girlfriend,” he says playfully.

“I’m not expensive,” she argues.

Percy finally moves his head away from her back so that he can push himself over her. He hovers on top of her on his elbows, and he kisses her slowly. “Not yet,” he says against her, “but when I get you that ring, a diamond in the center, it’s going to be pretty expensive, don’t you think?”

“I’d be happy with any ring,” she says back, biting his lower lip. “It doesn’t have to be diamond.”

“You’re the love of my life, and diamond is what you deserve.” He smiles into the kiss as she deepens it. “I don’t mind paying a lot if it’s something you’re going to be wearing for the rest of your life.”

His words make something ignite inside of her. She doesn’t know if this is normal. Most people in high school don’t feel the way that she does for Percy. They don’t look towards their future and know that the person standing right in front of them is in it forever, and she is so lucky to know that he is.

Percy’s hand trails down her side, and she doesn’t know what he’s trying to do until he brings her hand back up between them. He finds her ring finger, tracing over it before kissing her knuckles. “Right here, there’s going to be a ring. We’ll be twenty-three, or twenty-four, and it’ll look perfect on you. When I propose, I promise you that it’s going to be everything you could’ve ever dreamed of. We’ll plan the perfect wedding with all our friends and family, and there will be stories of how we were just two woodwinds at band camp when it all began.”

“A piccolo and a saxophone,” she says. “Who would’ve thought.”  
  
“I always had a feeling. I saw you stroll up as a freshman with your little hat and flip-folder and said, _Oh, I’m going to marry that girl._ ”

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious. I didn’t fall in love with you immediately, but I definitely had a _major_ crush on you. The falling in love portion followed pretty quickly after.”

“I have you tied around my finger,” she jokes.

“The sad thing is that you actually do.” Percy kisses her again. “I’m not about to let that _loser_ Luke Castellan ruin that either.”

“I’d like to see him try,” Annabeth says. “You’re mine.”

“More like you’re mine. I called dibs. If he wanted you, he should’ve tried being born a year earlier and being named Percy Jackson.”

Annabeth rolls her eyes fondly. “We get it. You’ve tricked me into being hopelessly in love with you.”

“And now we’re going to have a million cute babies.”

“Or two.”

“Or two,” he agrees. “Now are you going to shut up and let me kiss you?”

“Is that any way to speak to the future mother of your children?”

“If you ever want to have kids, you’ll have to stop talking long enough that we can actually make one.”

She chokes at the insinuation. “ _Percy._ ”

Percy sits up for a second so he can tug his shirt off of himself. He leans back over her after, catching her in a breathtaking kiss. “We only have two nights together. Why not make good use of that time?”

Annabeth’s mind is buzzing as he trails kisses down her neck. Everything prior to them being alone is wiped from her mind because she realizes that none of it actually matters. Luke is her friend and nothing more, and if he wants to pretend that he is, then she has no problem shutting it down. All that matters to her is Percy.

_He_ is the one that loves her unconditionally, and _he_ is the one she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

So Annabeth brings his lips back to hers, whispers, “I love you,” and shows him just how true it is.

* * *

Annabeth doesn’t know that she’s ever been as exhausted as she is right now. She’s practically dripping with sweat after standing in the sun for the past few hours, and the heavy black uniform she has on doesn’t help any.

Piper is standing right next to her, looking about as dead as Annabeth feels. They’re both pretending to listen to whatever the director is telling the band after their performance, but Annabeth is sure that no one actually cares. MPA is always a long day, but this one feels so much longer than usual. It’s probably because Percy’s not here to entertain her like he has been in the past, and–

A pair of strong arms wrap around her waist, and she rolls her eyes fondly as she feels lips pressing into the skin of her neck.

“I was just thinking of you,” she whispers, glad she’s not near the center of the circle so no attention is drawn to her. “Took you long enough.”

He doesn’t respond, so she twists slightly in his embrace so she can look at him. When she does, her breath feels taken away, just as it always is. It’s obnoxiously bright outside for the end of October, but the sunlight makes his green eyes sparkle, and she can never get enough of it.

Percy kisses her softly on the lips, and she pulls away after a few seconds. She’s not supposed to even be seen touching him, really, but she figures everyone else is distracted enough. Except for Piper, who she can see with her attention on the two of them, amused.

“Kiss me,” he complains when she moves her face away from his wandering lips. “I missed you.”

“You always miss me,” she says, but lets him kiss her anyways. When he starts to let himself wander down her neck again, she shoves him away. “Stop it. I’m sweaty.”

“I’m pretty sure you said those exact words last year at band camp.”

“It’s because I _am_ and I feel _gross_ and you still feel the need to get all handsy _anyways._ ”

“Oh, but it’s because I love you.”

“If you loved me, you’d let me have some of your water,” she says, eyeing the water bottle she just noticed in his hands.

He hands it to her wordlessly, watching as she unscrews the cap and downs it. She’s sure she doesn’t look the most attractive right now, but his face says otherwise. He’s pretty in love with her. It’s kind of entertaining to watch.

“Now do I get a kiss?” he asks when she hands it back to him. She gives him the lightest peck that has him groaning. “You call that a kiss, woman?”

“You may not be in band anymore, but I am, and I’d rather not get in trouble,” she says. “We’re heading back to Piper’s after this.”

Percy perks up, and that’s to be expected. He’s always loved going to Piper’s house because it screamed _rich,_ and also because he supposedly likes their pillow cases for some reason.

“How about you show me what a _real_ kiss is like when we get there?”

And _wow_ , Percy does just that.

Half of the entire band somehow ends up at Piper’s house, so it’s pretty noisy. They end up sneaking off to one of the rooms in the house, and the second that the door closes, Percy has her pressed against the wall, capturing her in a dizzying kiss.

One of his legs press between her own, pinning her further against the wall, and his hand is wrapped behind her waist and pulling her close while the other threads in her hair.

“Love you,” he mouths as she bites on his lower lip. She gasps when his hand that’s around her waist slides lower, and she can’t breathe. She’s enveloped by his warmth, the smell of him intoxicating. She can’t remember if it’s always been like this – if it’s always been so intense, if his lips have always felt so shocking against her jaw, her throat, her ear, if his hands have always burned when they trail lower and lower, if she’s always been so desperate to feel him against her harder than he already was.

His lips pull away from her skin, and she already knows he’s left a bruise. “Percy…”

“Annabeth…” he teases, tongue soothing over the heated flesh.

She tries to tell him to check the lock, unable to quite remember if they’d gotten the chance to do that before they ended up where they are now, but then he nips at her clavicle, and all else disappears from her mind. This isn’t a good idea, and she _knows_ that. She knows that any band member could walk in on them lip-locked, breathing heavy, Percy slowly rising against her thigh, and they’d be in trouble even if it’s not a band event because it would somehow get back to Chiron, but she is so lost in the moment that she doesn’t have the strength to stop.

_God,_ he smells so much like _Percy,_ the boy she fell in love with. He takes her breath away with every brush of his hand against her body, he pays attention to everywhere, to what makes her breath weak, and the air is suddenly filled with a familiar yet foreign feeling.

There’s a change in the kiss, and it has potential to lead to more than just desperate kisses. The question is whether or not she wants to take the plunge.

Annabeth doesn’t need more than two seconds to decide that she does.

As she starts trying to push him backwards, towards the bed that lays in the center of the room, Percy switches them around. He picks her up and tosses her onto the bed playfully, which has her shrieking a bit too loudly, but before she can process it, her boyfriend is back on top of her, silencing her with his own mouth. She can really feel every heated inch against her now, and one of her legs locks behind his back as he presses her deeper into the mattress.

Her fingers press into each individual knob of his spine, tracing down one by one, and she wants to swallow him whole. Things seem to slow down a bit from this moment on, as they both just try to make the most of the little time they have left together. It’s just as passionate and heated, but it’s slow. She tugs Percy’s shirt off, traces down his front, delighting in the tantalizing edges of his muscles, resists bringing her mouth to him.

Percy’s fingers lift her chin slightly, his thumb pulling her lower lip down, revealing her bottom teeth, and then he fits himself over her perfectly, and it’s like she’s living in a fairy tale.

Annabeth begins to work at the button on his jeans, fingers fumbling, and Percy deepens the kiss again, and –

The door to the room slams open with no warning, and they both jump apart.

She immediately darts her eyes to the door, feeling a mix of shame and embarrassment, and the person she spots make her want to drop to the floor and die just a little bit more because she knows this isn’t going to be good.

“Oh.” Luke blinks at the scene in front of them. It can’t be a good one, with Percy still settled between her legs, shirtless, hovering over her. She’s suddenly aware that there’s a real possibility of there being scratch marks down his back.

He doesn’t say anything else, and as Percy rolls off of her, she can feel the frustration radiating off of him.

“Are you just going to stand there and watch?” Percy bites out, subtly sliding the button back into the hole of his pants.

Luke starts, and averts his eyes for the first time. “I was just looking for Annabeth.”

Percy glares at him. “What for?”

“This is a band event,” Luke says. Annabeth can sense a daring tone in his voice, and he’s reverted back to the Luke she saw after a football game when he told her they’ll never last. “Don’t you think she should be with the band?”

“Is this the band asking for her, or _you?_ ”

“Does that matter?” Luke asks.

“It does, actually.”

“She’s my friend, Percy, believe it or not.”

“Don’t talk to me about her friends like you know her better than I do,” Percy says back.  
  
“I’m the one who’s with her every day, and–”

“–And what?” Annabeth challenges, raising an eyebrow. “Get out, Luke. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“I don’t see why you can’t come now?”

“Because I said I’d be there in a minute,” she repeats. Luke stares at her, and she stares back, her patience beginning to thin. He chooses to do the wise thing, and he leaves, not without slamming the door behind him.

Percy scoots away from her to the edge of the bed, pulling his shirt back over his head. It feels as though an icy layer forms between them, and as she tries to press her hand to the small of his back and calm him, he jerks away.

“Don’t,” he pleads, standing up.

“Percy…”

“Why are you even friends with him?”

“He’s nice.”  
  
“ _That_ is not nice.”

“He’s not usually like that.”

“You mean he’s only like that around me?” Percy laughs. “Why are you defending him?”

“He helps me a lot.”

“What does he help you with that I can’t?”

“You’re not here, Percy.”

She sees the immediate effect her words have on him. His shoulders drop, and he looks at her with something she’s never seen in his eyes before. It causes chills to break out over her, because this is such a drastic difference from how he usually is. He was sweet two seconds prior, and now he’s looking at her with such disgust it breaks her heart.

“Is that supposed to be my fault?” he asks. “I can’t help that I graduated a year before you, but I’m _trying,_ Annabeth. I’m here as often as I can be, and you’re going to tell me that _I’m_ the reason that it’s okay he treats me like shit? Because I’m not ‘here?’”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“The way he acts isn’t okay, and I don’t know how you don’t see it,” he tells her honestly. “Just now, for example.”

“He walked in on us nearly having sex! What did you expect his reaction to be!”

“That’s not the problem! The problem was that he was staring at _you,_ and it was painfully obvious it wasn’t as a friend.”

“He wasn’t even in here twenty seconds.”

“He was only in here twenty seconds and I can tell he wishes it was him in here, and not me!”

Annabeth clenches her teeth. “You need to find a way to handle your jealousy.”

“Excuse me?”  
  
“It’s getting ridiculous.”

He laughs. “I’m going to give you two seconds to change what you just said.”  
“Luke didn’t do _anything_ to you.”

“Alright.” Percy takes a deep breath like he’s trying to hold something back. “The _problem_ here isn’t that I’m jealous. It’s Luke thinking he has a right to come looking for you by himself, or to just barge into a room without knocking when you could have been changing for all he knew. He acts like he has a right to you, and you’re enabling it.”

The tone of his voice is one she finds she doesn’t like very much. It’s not calm or sweet or caring like it usually is, and it causes the tears to well in her eyes. She feels panic, like she’s thrown back to the first day of band camp without him, when she felt doubt, and all she can say is, “I’m sorry.”

He sighs, and his demeanor drops. He watches as a tear falls from her eye, and then another, and another. He walks back to her and wraps her gently in his arms as she struggles to take an even breath.

“Please don’t cry,” he whispers. “I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I just don’t want Luke to try something he shouldn’t.”

“I won’t let him,” she says miserably. “You keep promising me that we’re forever, but you won’t let me do the same. I don’t care about Luke.”

He tightens his grip on her, pressing his face into the crook of her neck. “I know. I’m sorry.”

The thing is that Annabeth knows Percy, and she knows when he’s actually sorry. The words leaving his mouth don’t match the mood with which he says them, but he’s hugging her and kissing her, so she stays quiet. He holds her as she tries to calm herself, and she’s just grateful that she has him here through it all.

“Are you mad at me?” she whispers after a few minutes of them just swaying back and forth.

“I’m not mad. I just–” He shakes his head. “Let’s just forget it, okay? He walked in already, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. I have to leave tomorrow, so let’s just enjoy today.”

She thinks that’s going to be easier said than done, because now his words are running through her head. She’s not upset with Percy, because he was just trying to talk to her, and even if it hurt, at least he was telling her instead of holding it inside until it had no choice but to overflow. They walk out hand in hand, and when they reach the enormous loft where everyone is, there are looks thrown their way – humored, accusing, proud, judging – and she knows Luke spoke.

“I don’t want to be here anymore,” she mutters against Percy’s back, where she’s shying away from their gazes.

He chuckles softly, and she can hear the vibrations through him. “This is supposed to be your day.”

“He told people,” she says.

“I know, baby. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to be around him,” she says, hurt. Because Luke is always nice, except when he’s around Percy. She thinks he told people about the scene a few minutes prior, and she knows it was done to hurt her or to hurt Percy.

She doesn’t know which one is worse. Hurting her, or the person she loves.

“Come on,” Percy says, dragging her along with him. His hand laces comfortingly in her own, and she’s thankful for it. Her heart threatens to leap out of her throat, and when they reach the few people she’s comfortable with, only then does she begin to feel the trembles slowing.

Luke stays away the rest of that day, and it’s for the best. Annabeth likes him as a friend (or she did), but right now, she doesn’t want to look at him. Everything is alright with her and Percy right now, but this just feels like the beginning. She’s starting to wonder if her intuition was right when she asked Percy if Luke was right.

She hopes not.

She knows that there’s nothing she can do except wait.

The group of friends returns to normal quickly enough, and so does Annabeth’s smile. There are almost thirty kids in the house, each of them doing their own thing, so she feels marginally better.

Annabeth herself ends up in a circle of seven people. She’s sitting cross-legged on the group in Percy’s lap, a cookie in her hand and a deck of cards in the other. They’re playing _Card Against Humanity,_ or at least attempting to. It’s really going more along the lines of them putting cards down, Leo making fun of them, Annabeth choking on a bite of her cookie, and Percy laughing and kissing her on the cheek.

“Don’t die,” Percy warns when she chokes on another bite of her cookie. She practically shoves the rest of it in her mouth, and he says, “Now that’s why you keep choking.”

“I keep choking because Leo’s being a dumbass,” she says around her mouthful of warm gooey chocolate chip cookie.

“Leo is being entertaining,” Leo corrects, handing another cookie to Annabeth. Percy tries to snatch it away, but she gets to it first. “Have another one.”

Percy takes a small bite out of it, and Annabeth whines. She’s having so much fun now that she’s forgotten earlier that day until she feels the eyes on the back of her neck. When she turns, she sees Luke gazing at her. They lock eyes, and he smiles.

Annabeth turns her back.

* * *

“You look adorable.”

Annabeth scowls into the mirror at Percy, who is laying on his back on top of her bed. He’s tossing one of the stuffed animals he got her up into the air over and over, clearly bored out of his mind. “Put that down,” she chastises.

“Grumpy.” Percy sets it down anyways, choosing to cross his arms over his stomach instead. “How much longer are you going to take?”

“I just need to finish these dutch braids,” she says, gesturing to her hair that was just not cooperating. Percy stands from her bed with a grunt and walks over to her, letting his hands move to her shoulders and squeeze. His thumbs move against her, massaging the tense skin.

“Do you need help?”

“Do you know how to braid?” she answers.

“Uh – no.”

She sighs, fingers resuming picking up the strands of hair. Percy’s hands stay on her shoulder, but now his fingers brush lightly against her neck, causing goosebumps to spread down her arms.

“The makeup is cute,” he tells her. “Is it supposed to be Bambi?”

“It’s supposed to be a reindeer,” she says. “Piper wanted to match at the Christmas parade.”

“It looks good,” he praises. “Will it come off easily?”

“Uh… it shouldn’t. Why?”

“So I can do this,” he says, bringing his lips to her cheek. He peppers kisses all over her face, and it has her scrunching her nose and giggling. “I love you,” he says, planting one final kiss on her forehead before stepping away from the chair she’s sitting on. “Are you almost ready to go?”

“I don’t even want to go,” she complains.

“ _What?_ It’s the annual Christmas parade! You have to go!”

“I’d rather snuggle you all day and watch movies.”

“We can do that later,” he dismisses with the wave of his hand. “But you have to have fun because it’s your last parade. You also have to look the best because you are the drum major, and also my girlfriend.”

“I’m going to look the same as I always do because we’re in uniforms.”

“Yeah, but we get to wear a bunch of rainbow lights and decorate our instruments with garland.”

She snorts. “I did that in middle school and broke my flute because the garland pulled the little metal wires out of place.”

“Well, that’s on you,” he says playfully. “Come on. I got you pretty lights.”

“You got _me_ lights? You must really love me.”

“Disgustingly so,” he says, tugging the braid she’s just finished before bringing her to her feet and turning her towards him so that he can kiss her properly. “Now, let’s get going before Chiron gets upset that I stole his drum major from him.”

“He already thinks you’re a bad influence,” she teases, grabbing the last bits of uniform she needs to bring to the parade.

“Chiron loves me,” Percy says, grabbing his car keys in one hand and her hand in the other, but not before grabbing her bottom. As they settle into the car, Annabeth in the passenger seat with her lap full of a bucket of candy canes and peppermints to hand out to kids at the parade, Percy’s hand finds hers again.

“Can I have a candy cane?” he asks on top of the music playing.

“You’re not in the band anymore, Percy. This is for band kids only.”

“I’m in the university band,” he says. “Does not count?”

“No.”

“I’m also driving you and deserve some form of payment.”

She shoots him a look but drops a candy cane into his open hand anyways.

“Thank you.”

“Whatever.”

Annabeth quickly regrets giving him a candy cane because he makes it into a sharp point and pretends to shank her with it at least five times on the ride over to the band’s meeting venue. He tries to stab her with it again just as he’s pulling into the parking lot and she immediately hops out of the car to avoid him.

She hears him yell, “Annabeth!” from over her shoulder, but she just laughs and keeps running towards Piper, who is watching the two with amused eyes. Annabeth shoves the bucket of candy into Piper’s arms.

“Why are you running from your boyfriend?” Piper asks.

“He’s trying to stab me,” she answers, breathless. Percy is walking up behind her, but he stops to greet Chiron kindly when the director steps into his path accusingly. “What a kiss ass,” she notes. “Look at him trying to get Chiron to let him stay.”

“You act like you don’t want him here,” Piper says, “which I know isn’t true. You probably want him here more than me.”

“She sure does, McLean,” Percy greets with a grin, coming up behind them.

“Where’d your candy cane go?” Annabeth asks.

“It was confiscated by Chiron,” he says bitterly.

“That’s what you get for trying to stab me.”

“I just want to be drum major again. I figured if I kill you, the title falls to me.”

“Jokes on you. Chiron would immediately know if it was you in this uniform instead of me.”

“He may not notice if Percy killed Piper,” Leo chimes in, popping up in the circle. “Hey, Jackson.”

“Valdez,” Percy greets. “That’s a good point actually. Piper, get out of the uniform.”

“Chase. Your boyfriend wants to see me naked.”

“You can have him,” Annabeth says. Percy tries to pluck another candy cane from the basket, but Annabeth swats his hands away.

“You’re my girlfriend!” Percy yells, slightly too loud. “You’re supposed to let me eat your candy canes!”

“Is candy cane code word for something?” Leo asks. “Like you want to eat _her_ …”

Annabeth smacks Leo lightly upside the head.

“I already _did,_ ” Percy retorts, and now it’s Percy’s turn to be lovingly smacked upside the head.

She would have told them both off, but it’s so nostalgic that she can’t bring herself to do it. It feels like they’re still a part of one band, like Percy never graduated and they were all just messing around before a parade.

“I missed this,” Annabeth says, leaning into Percy’s arms when he comes up to rest behind her. “All of us together.”

“Now we’re just missing Luke,” Leo jokes. “The artificial member.”

“Artificial is the key word,” Piper says. “Nothing will ever replace the original four. Plus Jason, but he’s in California.”

“He played trumpet,” Percy says. “We don’t need him.”

“And you play saxophone.”

“ _Hey,_ ” Percy complains. “Annabeth plays piccolo, so.”

“So do I,” Piper says, raising an eyebrow. “Something you’d like to say to the both of us?”

“Only that I love you both dearly.”

Annabeth snorts. “You don’t love me.”

He gasps. “All I’ve ever done is show you endless love and affection.”

“And then you insulted my instrument, and I no longer want your love and affection.”

Percy presses a wet kiss to her cheek. “You know I love you and your piccolo-playing self.”

She hums happily. She’s about to say something incredibly cheesy back to him, but then Chiron’s instructing the drum majors to do something, and her work-mode switches on automatically. Percy lets her go so she can help load instruments off of the band trailer, and as she does, he leans against it so he can watch her.

“Do you need help?” he asks after a few minutes when Piper abandons her.

“Please,” she answers, already struggling to breathe after having to heave a sousaphone out of the trailer. Percy shoos her away and starts grabbing the instruments himself, giving her a little break.

“You know,” he starts, rolling another instrument off the ramp, “you have a little secret admirer.”

“What do you mean?”

“Luke,” he says. “He’s been watching you since we got here.”

She actually hasn’t even seen him once, so she turns around in search of him.

“He’s with the other saxophones by the wall,” he tells her.

She does spot him, and his eyes are right on her. He immediately looks away, which has her even more confused.

“My girlfriend has a fan club. He probably writes fanfiction about you.”

“Do people actually write fanfiction?”

“Only people with no lives,” Percy says. “Which means Luke does not have a life. Because he writes fanfiction about you.”

“Stop,” she says, a slight smile and roll of the eyes at his antics. “He’s probably just scared you’re gonna beat him up if he comes over here.”

“Damn right I’m going to beat him up if he comes over here,” he says, puffing out his chest playfully. She smacks him lightly to get him to stop, and he snickers at her reaction. “My girlfriend is so pretty every guy wants her. Too bad she’s mine.”

“Looking a little green, Percy.” She raises an eyebrow. “Envy isn’t a pretty color on you, love.”

“Envy is a _lovely_ color on me,” he argues, giving her a fleet kiss as he passes her to grab another instrument. “Call me jealous if you want, then, but I don’t like it when other guys won’t stop crushing on my girlfriend.”

“He _did_ apologize for MPA,” she reminds him, turning to face him.

He gives her a doubtful look. “He didn’t apologize to _me._ And besides, what type of apology is _I’m sorry I almost walked in on you naked and liked it_?”

She throws her head back and laughs. “You’re horrible.”

“I may be horrible, but he’s worse, because he still hasn’t stopped looking at you.”

Her eyes dart back to him, and she finds his words true. He’s looking at her again, and even from the distance, she can tell that there is an emotion in his eyes that she only ever wants Percy to look at her with.

“Did you ever actually talk to him?” Percy asks. “About what he was doing?”

“He basically just assured me that he didn’t like me as anything more than friends, and that he’s sorry he ever gave off that impression.”

Percy snorts.

“Maybe give him the benefit of the doubt?”

"Babe, I’m sorry, but there is no doubt in my mind that he wants you for himself.” After heaving the last instrument off of the trailer, he comes up behind her. His arms wrap around her, something that he does a lot more recently, and he glares in Luke’s direction pointedly.

She laughs, dropping her face into her palm. “You take joy in making me feel mortified, don’t you?”

“Just a little bit,” he admits. “How am I doing? Is my chest puffed out enough? Do I look like a knight in shining armor ready to fight to the death for my girl? For my _woman?_ ”

She mocks gagging. “Fighting to the death is so medieval.”

“How about I duel him in a gnarly round of Mario Kart.”

She hums. “Now that’s more like it.” Piper calls Annabeth’s name, and she sighs. “I suppose it’s time to fulfil my duties as leader of the band.” She makes a face because she really does not want to leave him right now. “Can’t you go do it instead? You’d do a better job anyways.”

“Nonsense. You’re the best drum major I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

“Rachel?”

“I literally forgot she was ever drum major until just now.”

“Good answer,” she says with a smile that looks more like she’s threatening him. “I can’t believe you were ever with her. Makes me sick to even think about.”

“To be fair, I never actually dated her.”

“That’s even worse. You two just got a little close, got a little naked, and did a little banging.”

He shoves her away, his face turning red. “Stop it.”

Annabeth laughs at his face, motioning for him to follow her. She leads him through the rowdy crowd of band kids until she’s at the front. She has to leave Percy’s side for a few minutes so she can help get the band in order, which is a lot harder than it sounds. They have to all get their instruments out, which of course means at least five people have to drop the instruments and put dents in the brass. By the time they’ve managed to move to their position over to the actual location they’re in for the Christmas parade, it’s an hour later and she doesn’t think she’s ever been so thirsty in her entire life.

Piper starts to put the band in block formation, starting with the flutes, and Annabeth walks back over to Percy, panting.

“Are you okay?” he asks, amused by her disheveled appearance. He tries to smooth down a piece of her braid.

“I’m dying.”

“Please don’t,” he says. “I need you to make it to tonight so we can snuggle the entire time.”  
  
“Aw, you big sap.”

Piper calls the band to attention and begins to tell them something, but Annabeth returns to her conversation with Percy. She squats to try and catch her breath, her back facing the band, and Percy wordlessly goes to stand behind her.

“What are you doing?” she asks, craning her head to look at him.

“He was looking at your butt,” he says.

“Who?”

“Who do you think?” Percy frowns, looking over his shoulder for a second, and she can see the tension building in his shoulders. She stands back up and lets her hand rub up and down his arm soothingly.

“Maybe he’s looking at _your_ ass,” she comforts jokingly.

Percy cracks a smile at her, but the tension still runs deep. “I do have a fabulous ass.”  
  
“You don’t need to tell me,” she teases, standing on her toes so she can brush her lips against his nose. “Would it make you feel better if I let you kiss me in front of the entire band? So you can mark your territory?”

“Not when you say it like that,” he says. “You’re not my _territory_. I just want him to look away, you know? Maybe make him a little jealous?”

She motions to herself. “Then come on. Kiss me. Make him jealous.”

“You do realize the entire band is going to see this too?”

“Let’s give them a show,” she says, shrugging. Percy shakes his head at her, but his fingers curl over her waist and drag her close. He tries to lean a little closer, but then she starts laughing in his face, and he follows quickly.

“I can’t do this,” he says, snickering. “This is not normal.”

“Kissing me feels weird to you?”

“Doing it to make someone else jealous? _Yes._ ”

Percy’s fingers are still curled over her hips, tapping lightly at her hipbone. He’s not looking at her anymore, instead drifting over to the band, and she wants to bring her attention back to him.

So she does.

She digs her fingers into his hair and drags him closer to her so she can press her lips to his in a breathtaking kiss, and all else is forgotten.

Percy smiles into it, and any stiffness quickly drifts away. _This_ is what love feels like, she knows for a fact. She’s in front of hundreds of people who may or may not be watching them, but she doesn’t care. She doesn’t even remember why they were doing it until she has to pull away for a breath of fresh air. Percy’s lips are now swollen and pink, matching hers she’s sure, and he’s smiling at her like he’s head over heels in love.

Piper whistles at them, and Annabeth looks, and the entire band really is looking at them. They’re mostly laughing, and the parents are giving them fake angry faces, and even Chiron has a subtle grin as he approaches them slowly. Annabeth looks at Luke, and notices, triumphant, that he is looking anywhere except her.

“We’re about to get in so much trouble,” Percy tells her, eyes still on the approaching director.

“Oh, for sure.”

Thankfully, Piper brings the band’s attention back to her as she starts a new stand tune as a warm up, so they are not under the children’s watchful eyes.

“Annabeth,” Chiron warns.

“Yes?”

“I know you two are dating,” he starts, looking at Percy pointedly. “But I would like to let you know that I _do_ in fact know what you were doing in the car last year, and I’d rather not have a repeat of it this year.”

Annabeth chokes. “Uh.”

“I’d appreciate it if you kept your hands off each other until you get home,” he says, and Annabeth’s face burns. It’s obvious that he’s not actually upset with them, but he’s surely taking entertainment in their embarrassment. He looks between them once more, neither Percy nor Annabeth looking directly at him, before he moves to take care of something else.

Percy clears his throat. “Let’s agree to never do that again.”

“I’m never going to _kiss_ you again,” she whispers. “He _knows._ ”

“Don’t say it,” he pleads.

“He caught us in the car last year… with your… out of the uniform… and… _oh my god._ ”

“Annabeth, please don’t say it.”

“I’m going to die. This is it.”

Despite himself, Percy begins to laugh. His smile is a contagion, and she really has no control when it starts to take her over too. She drops her face into his chest as the laughter begins to rake through her body, and soon they’re both shaking with the effort to be quiet.   
  
“I fucking love you,” Percy says, finally able to get a normal breath in.

Annabeth preens as he bops her on the nose gently. He gazes deeply into her eyes, and she is hypnotized by the swirling greens she finds in his. Every moment she’s with him, she thinks she falls deeper in love.

She’s not going to lie. Things haven’t been the easiest for them since Percy graduated because being away from each other for so long is just harder than she would’ve expected, but this…

This makes it so worth it. Every tear that falls is worth it to see his smile, to see the way he looks at her, laughs _with_ her. They’re making memories each and every day, and even if she doesn’t see him all the time, it just make it so much more powerful when she does. It gives her a reason to look forward to the next time she sees him, the next time she’ll get to hug him or kiss him.

“I love you too,” she says into his chest, and she means it with his whole heart.

When the sun starts to settle in the horizon, she has to let go so she can do her job. He quickly tugs a string of rainbow lights on her and turns on the glittering reindeer antlers that sit on her head, giving her a lingering kiss, and then he’s off to watch her from a distance the rest of the night. She tries to catch his eyes a few times, and each time she does, there is a smile on his face.

And later that night, true to his promise, they end up under the covers with movie after movie playing. She’s turned on her side so she can rest her head against his chest as his hand rubs at her back slowly. It’s just the two of them, and she’s grateful for that.

The scene is so peaceful that it’s hardly her fault when her eyes begin to drift shut. Everything is reduced to his hand at her back, the gentle rise and fall of his chest with each breath he takes, and the feel of his body against hers.

As she falls asleep, she thinks of how lucky she really is to have someone willing to make this love last.

* * *

“Who keeps texting you?”

Annabeth looks up from her phone at Percy, who’s craning his head to see over her shoulder. She shuts the phone off without responding to the message. “It’s Luke. He’s just asking about something for the concert tomorrow.”

Percy makes a face at the name. “Of course it is.”

Annabeth laughs, tossing herself down into his lap and kissing his jaw. “Look. I’m ignoring him.”

He boops her nose. “As you should.”

Annabeth looks up at him from her position laying on the couch as he begins to play with her hair. It’s a pretty lazy day between the two of them. It’s the weekend before spring break, but Percy got off one week earlier than her, so they decided to just stay at his mom’s and do just about nothing. It’s nice, actually, being able to just lay with him and forget the rest of the world.

Her phone goes off again, and Percy tries to pick it up. She fights him for it halfheartedly, but he wins out and she just settles back against him, choosing to focus on the light brushing up and down her side with his fingers.

“He says that you’re so pretty and the love of his life, and that you need to break up with me so you can marry him instead,” Percy jokingly reads. “I don’t know, babe, he poses a pretty good deal there.”

“I only date first chair players,” she tells him. “I demand the best.”

“Oh? I’m the best?”  
  
“You’re better than the best, and that’s why I’m dating you. I mean, I have a thing for drum majors.”

“Do you?”

“Duh. You think I would’ve ever kissed you to begin with if you weren’t in a position of power? How does it feel?”

Percy kisses her nose. “I feel used.”

“Yeah.” She shrugs. “But can I tell you a little secret?”

“Hm? What is it?”

“I love you a lot now,” she says.

“Wasn’t part of the plan?”

“To fall in love with my captive?” Annabeth sticks her tongue out. “Never.”

Percy rolls his eyes and kisses her lazily. It’s slow and relaxed, like they have all the time in the world, and _god,_ she’s missed this. Just gentle brushes of lips, grazing touches, a Saturday evening when the sun starts to go down, illuminating the living room in soft orange and pink tones.

Annabeth’s phone goes off again, and Percy breaks the kiss.

“Should I give you a minute?” he asks sarcastically.

“He can wait,” she replies, bringing him back to her.

The entire day is pretty much spent like that, them just laying on the couch watching movie after movie but not really paying attention. They talk about anything and everything, Annabeth sprawled across his lap with him playing with strands of her hair. It’s just so blissful, and time goes too fast.

Before she even knows it, the sun is completely out of the sky, and it’s nearing one in the morning. Percy’s distracted by the Disney movie playing in the background until she yawns, and he glances down at her. His whole hand cups her cheek as he brushes her cheekbone.

“Sleepy?”

Annabeth stretches her legs. “Very.”

“Do you want to take a nap?”

“At one in the morning?”

“Or we could sleep,” he suggests. “Let’s go sleep then.”  
  
When Annabeth doesn’t move, absolutely bone-tired, Percy stands up and grabs her by the feet. He just about yanks her off the couch, and she goes flying to the floor with a thick _thump._

“Stop laughing,” she chastises, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m gonna have a bruise on my ass.”

“You barely hit the ground,” he says, still snickering and trying to drag her to her feet.

“I _did_ hit the ground, and it _hurt._ ”

“I’ll kiss it better,” he says with a mocking pout. When she refuses to move, he just picks her up and tosses her over his shoulder, marching down to his room himself.   
“This is a terrible view,” Annabeth comments, pinching his butt.

“I think you mean that it’s the best view in the entire universe,” he says, tossing her down onto the mattress. He tries to climb over her, but she kicks him with her socked feet until he gives up. He instead flops down beside her, face into the pillows. “You don’t love me.”

“I love you very much,” she replies.

“Then why won’t you let me snuggle you?”  
  
“Was all day not enough for you?”

“The rest of our lives isn’t enough,” is his charming response. She snorts as he rolls over so that he can tug her in close. Her back rests against his chest, and when he pulls a blanket over the two of them, it doesn’t take long for her to doze off. Everything settles around her, the warmth from his body, the snug arm that’s planted over her stomach from behind, the face buried in her neck, the even breathing coming from Percy, and she is out like a light.

Annabeth jerks awake at some point, unsure of what woke her up. Her brain is still groggy as she looks at the digital clock mounted on a desk, and it takes her a couple seconds of squinting before she’s able to decipher that it says, _3:54._

It’s only when her phone goes off beside her head that she realizes what woke her. She grabs it and pulls it off the charger from where she’s sure Percy placed it after she fell asleep. There are almost fifteen messages waiting for her, all of them from Luke, so she slides her phone open.

(3:32am) _annabeth can i tell you something_

(3:32am) _i’m like seventy percent sure you’re sleeping but also not because you do normally answer me_

(3:34am) _not sure why you’re not answering but okay_

(3:34am) _anyways_

(3:35am) _so i’m kind of in love with u and i tell u that like every day_

(3:35am) _or i did until you told me to stop but it fucking hurts annabeth_

(3:37am) _you’re with percy right now right_

(3:40am) _i’m putting you in an awkward position right now but i’m also just a little bit high and i love you and guess what_

(3:41am) _percy isn’t fucking here_

(3:41am) _but i am here. i’m here for you and i have been all year and so_

Annabeth glances at the messages that are just rolled in. There’s a feeling of dread as she continues reading, and for some reason, her heart is pounding in nerves.

(3:54am) _just say the word and i’m here for you_

(3:54am) _you love percy, but i know you, and i know you also love me_

The typing bubbles pop up on screen as he continues typing. It’s a good few seconds before he actually sends anything else.

(3:55am) _i’d marry you annabeth_

(3:55am) _also your read notifs are on lol_

Annabeth nearly chokes. She’s much more awake, but now she’s shaking because why is this happening _now?_ She’s talked to him, told him to stop, but now he’s doing it again, and Percy is against her back facing the phone. She moves to type out a response, fingers shaking slightly.

(3:56am) **can you stop**

(3:56am) _stop?_

(3.56am) **luke**

(3.56am) **you know i don’t like you like that**

(3:56am) **in what world is it okay to send a message like that?**

(3:57am) _had to tell you_

(3:57am) **you told me before and i told you to stop**

(3:57am) _i did, but do you really want to be with percy_

Annabeth laughs incredulously.

(3:58am) **believe it or not i do**

(3:58am) **don’t text me again**

He leaves her on read, and she feels relief, if only for a moment, because she doesn’t notice that the breathing behind her has turned uneven until he says, “How long has that been going on?”  
  
Annabeth jumps, tilting her head to the side. “What?”

His face is turned to stone, and even in the dark, she can see that he is absolutely livid. “How long have you been letting someone confess their love to you?”

“I’m not—”  
“Not what?” he challenges, moving away from her on the bed. “You’re in my _bed_ texting another person at four in the morning, except it’s worse because that _boy_ is Luke, and he’s madly in love with you.”

She furrows her brows, sitting up. “He’s not madly in love with me?”

“So we’re going to just pretend I didn’t see those messages?”

“I— why were you even _reading_ them?”

“I’m sorry, did you not expect your boyfriend to read the messages you were shining in his face at four in the morning?”

Annabeth has seen Percy frustrated and mad, but it’s never been at her. This _is_ at her though, and she finds she doesn’t like it.

“If you were reading my messages,” she says with a glare, “then you’d already know that I told him to stop.”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about.” Percy clenches his fist, and she watches as she does so, a foreign feeling settling in her stomach. “My question is how did it get this far?”

“What are you even _talking_ about?”

“Luke isn’t just spitting out declarations of love from nowhere! He’s doing it because he thinks it’s okay because you’re not stopping him!”

“It’s not my job to take care of him!”

“Except it is, because I have been telling you from the moment that I first met him that something wasn’t right, and you told me that everything was fine.”

“Because it _was_!” She can feel the fury beginning to rise in herself, because as much as she hates the way he’s looking at her, she hates the accusations even more.

“You’re enabling it, Annabeth! You may not be telling him you love him back, but you’re not stopping him either! You’re encouraging it!”

“I’m not!”

“Has he said something like that before?”

“Percy—”  
  
“Has he?”

“Once or twice, but—”

“And you _hid_ it from me,” he says. “Is that why you didn’t want me to see your phone? Because this has been going on for _how_ long while I was just sitting here, oblivious?”

“Oh my god, Percy,” she says, tossing her hands up in a surrender motion. She is vaguely aware that they are getting louder and louder, but she just doesn’t care. Before she can stop herself, she spits out, “Maybe you should figure out your own jealousy before you come attacking me for nothing.”

Percy laughs in her face. “Jealousy?”

She tilts her head up. “Yeah, jealousy.”

“This is not me being _jealous_ anymore!” Percy stands up from the bed, and his hand smothers over his mouth for a second. “This is about _you.”_

“You’re pissed over Luke because he likes me, but in case you didn’t know, you don’t _own_ me! Other people are allowed to like me!”

“You have it all wrong, Annabeth.” He smiles, but it’s a deadly grin. “It’s not _Luke_ that I’m mad at. It’s you.”

“ _Me?_ ”

“It’s _you_ that’s been hiding this from me. It’s _you_ that’s texting him at four in the morning in _my_ bed. It’s _you_ that’s letting him get away with it. And this is only what I’ve seen from when I’m with you, so I can’t even imagine the things he says or does when I’m not here. _You_ are the one encouraging him, and I may not like Luke, but _he_ is not the problem anymore.”

It’s a reflex, she thinks, when she begins to cry. Tears fall down her cheeks, and she can’t control them, but she doesn’t try to stop them anyways. For a moment, she thinks that maybe it’ll make him slow down, revert him to the sweet boy that he has always been, but then she takes one more look at his face, and she knows it won’t be happening.

This is her fault.

Still, Annabeth is nothing if not prideful, and she cannot bring herself to apologize.

“And now you’re crying,” he comments. “Great.”

“You’re accusing me of cheating, so yeah, I don’t know what you expected.”

“See, that’s the thing. I _never_ said that.”

“You don’t trust me.”

“I have trusted you, Annabeth. I’ve let this go since August, and now it’s March, and while you’ve been telling me that you’ve put distance between you two, I’m just now finding out that’s not the case.”

“I _did,_ ” she grits out.

“What did you say to him? Did you actually tell him to stop, or did you just ignore it? Because those are two different things, and I’m pretty sure I know which one you did, because if you actually _addressed_ it, then we wouldn’t be here.”

He’s right, and she stays silent.  
  
“I love you, and I do trust you, Annabeth. I know you didn’t go around doing anything with him, but you lied to me. Deliberately hid that from me, and I want to know why. Was it because you just liked the attention? You needed someone else because I’m ‘not here?’”

“Stop it,” she whines, hiccupping as she wipes her eyes.

“You are in _my_ bed!” Percy’s voice cracks, and she knows just how betrayed he feels. “Why would you _ever_ even respond to something like that instead of telling me? You’ve said it yourself that he’s done it before, so _why_ did you not tell me then either? Do you not trust me enough to tell me?”

“Percy.”

“I want an answer.”

“I don’t have one to give you.”

He stares at her, and she stares back. There are still tears falling from her eyes, but she doesn’t go to wipe them away. It’s a while of them staring at each other, waiting for the other person to break. They don’t break, until her phone goes off one more time. She doesn’t need to look to know who it’s from, and neither does Percy.

He sighs and grabs his keys from the bedside table.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to my dorm.”

Annabeth sniffles. “It’s an hour away. We were supposed to go out tomorrow.”

“I know.” Percy turns in the doorframe, but he can’t meet her eyes now. “Do you need a ride home?”  
She does, but Percy can’t even look at her, and it hurts so much. “I’ll call someone else.”

He doesn’t respond. He turns on his heel, and she can hear him throughout the house. She hears the lock click and door slide open. The door slams shut, resonating in the house, and the second it does, the tears begin to fall faster.

It feels like it all happened so fast, and she can’t even begin to comprehend it. They were sleeping, and then they weren’t, and now he’s gone.

She wants to be mad at him for ever speaking to her like that, but he was being generous. Had it been turned around, she knows she wouldn’t have held back. She would have screamed and tore him apart because at the end of the day, she knows what she did wasn’t okay. Maybe she knew from the start that it was wrong and had been so terrified that if she told him, he’d be mad, and it would ruin their relationship. She was wrong though, because she now knows it was holding it in that caused it to unravel.

He doesn’t ask for much in the relationship. She goes where she wants with who she wants, and he doesn’t ask questions. The one thing he asked was that she did something about Luke, and he did trust her enough to not follow up behind it. He thought she did, and… now he knows she didn’t, and he left.

Annabeth decides to walk home, it being too early to call anyone. She grabs her phone, and a few messages remain untouched.

(4:32am) _hello_

(4:34am) _are you okay_

Her fist clenches around the phone, and she has to restrain herself from throwing it on the ground and shattering the screen.

Annabeth doesn’t know that she’s ever been so scared. She feels empty, alone, like that first day of band camp. She had said they’d have to fight like hell if they wanted to make it through, and she’s realizing just how true it is. She just hadn’t ever thought _she’d_ be the reason for it, because Percy was always here for her. He was an hour away, but he was _there,_ and this is ultimately in her hands.

Even when he’s never been as mad as today, he still asked her if she needed a ride home because he cares about her. She doesn’t deserve it.

Annabeth loves Percy, and Percy loves Annabeth even if he shouldn’t.

Her phone goes off one more time, and she almost doesn’t check it. But something pulls her to anyways.

(4:39am) _let me know when you get home. i love you_

It brings a whole new flood of tears that don’t seem to stop for hours.

* * *

Annabeth is laying on the band room floor when Piper lays down beside her. She doesn’t turn her head to look at Piper because she is simply too tired to move a muscle.

“You know this floor is nasty, right?”

“It’s okay. We’re laying in the woodwind section anyways.”  
  
“I’ve seen flutes fling their headjoints across the room. I can assure you the floor is crawling with, like, herpes or something.”

“Hell yeah,” Annabeth cheers lazily. “You have to build an immune system somehow.”

“That is disgusting. The floor is going to give you chlamydia.”  
  
“I’m not going to fuck the floor.”

“You might if you don’t get off your ass and talk to Percy.”

“Who’s Percy?”

Piper rolls her eyes. “Your boyfriend.”

“Oh. I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Stop being a dumbass,” Piper says. “That boy _loooooves_ you so much it’s sickening. And I have been subject to it all four years of high school. Like is Piper your best friend? Oh no, it’s Percy. Piper is just the backup plan.”

Annabeth elbows Piper.

“Why are you hitting me? I’m right.”

“You’re my best friend too,” Annabeth tells her.

Piper sighs. “I’m practically your boyfriend myself, considering how involved I am in your relationship. You guys sit together on the bus to games, and I just squeeze in between you.”

“Yeah, why did you like to do that? It was weird.”  
  
“I like to be appreciated.”

“You’re very appreciated.”

“If you love me, then you’ll go talk to him.”

Annabeth does turn her head now. Piper is looking at her accusingly, and it makes Annabeth reach forward so she can tug a strand of Piper’s hair.

“Uh, ow?”

“Give me your honest opinion,” Annabeth says. “On a scale of one to ten, how big of a dick was I?”

“Maybe a seven, but he’s laying at a six. So you only have one more dick than him.”

“I—” Annabeth clears her throat. “Never mind.”

“If you’re going to insult my scale, then don’t. It was flawless.”

“For sure.”

Piper blows air from her nose in a laugh, twisting onto her stomach so she can rest her head against Annabeth’s shoulder. “Do you want to talk through your thoughts with me?”

“No thank you. You will simply tell me I have a bigger dick than my boyfriend.”

“So you _do_ have a boyfriend,” Piper accuses. “But fine. I will be moral support as you talk it through in your head like you _always_ do because your parents dropped you on your head as a baby.”

Piper stops talking after that, which is a huge relief to the racing thoughts in Annabeth’s head. She’s always been one to enjoy thinking, not that she has much of a choice considering her thoughts will just shoot off. But recently, she thinks _so much_ it’s becoming exhausting. And by recently, she means within the last six days because it’s now Friday again. She pretty much hasn’t slept for the last six days either, and as many people have pointed out, she’s beginning to look like a raccoon.

Annabeth shoves her arms into her sweater — Percy’s sweater, actually — and tries to go over everything she knows. She does that a lot too. Whenever there’s something bothering her, she repeats everything that happened. Every single detail she can recall.

It starts with her meeting Luke, and—

No.

It starts with Percy graduating. The first day of band camp, instilled with a paralyzing sense of fear of what was to come. She had a bad feeling that things would not end well but…there had also been a promise. The promise had been there since before he graduated. The promise was formed on _his_ senior night when they were alone in his bed, a lot like they were almost a week ago, when he’d assured her that they’d be together forever.

He made a promise, and so there was never any real threat to her, whether he was physically standing next to her or not. But the fear was still there, and she thinks that’s where the mistake began.

She met Luke, and it felt good to have a friend with an unbiased point of view. But she didn’t need him for very long because she adjusted to being without Percy, but then he clinged on, and she just let him. It got worse on his end, but she stayed indifferent, and the only reason she thinks she did that was because she had already had the mentality that her and Percy were weak. She went into the school year thinking they had to fight to keep the relationship, so she thought if someone like Luke came into the picture, it would rip them apart.

It wasn’t Luke that caused it though, because if she had just told him, she doesn’t think he would have really cared. He would have brushed it off, and if she had gotten those same messages from Luke anyways, Percy would have laughed because he knew. The only reason Percy got upset was because he didn’t know any of it was happening for as long as it did. He told her that part.

“I’ll be right back,” Piper whispers, sliding off of Annabeth’s shoulder. Annabeth’s eyes follow her around the empty band room slowly. It’s silent, seeing as it’s after school, so Piper shuffling around is alarmingly loud.

Annabeth thinks that it’s Piper when she hears someone sit back down next to her, but when they don’t speak, she looks over and nearly loses her shit.  
  
“Hi.”  
  
Annabeth scowls. “Go away.”

Luke looks shocked. “What?”

“What do you mean _what?_ ”

“What’s up with you?”

“I haven’t spoken to you in the last week for a reason.”

Luke gives her a hesitant grin. “I got the feeling you were ignoring me, but we’re friends, so—”

“No.”

“…No?”  
  
“We’re not friends,” Annabeth says, scooting away from him in a way that is not at all subtle.

“Are you really so immature that you can’t be friends with someone who likes you?”  
  
“Are _you_ really so immature that you don’t know how to respect someone’s boundaries?”

“Respect your…” Luke trails off, furrowing his brows in confusion. “I’ve been perfectly cordial, so I don’t see the problem.”

“The problem is you know I have a boyfriend, and you _know_ what you did, yet you’re still sitting here next to me.”

“You have a boyfriend. Okay. Cool. I don’t get why you’re mad at me.”

“Because I have a _boyfriend_ and you decided to start sending messages like… _that._ ” Annabeth doesn’t even want to repeat what he’d sent her because it still makes her feel lightheaded even thinking of him like that.

Luke smirks. “Did Percy not appreciate the messages? That’s what I mean though, like, he’s controlling you and he’s not even here.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Don’t talk about my relationship.”

“I get you’re upset, but I’m your friend, and I’m trying to help you.”

Annabeth laughs in disbelief. She takes a second to calm herself before answering because she really doesn’t want to create a scene. “ _You_ are not my best friend. Percy is.”

“You may think that, but you can’t be best friends with your boyfriend. You need someone else to talk to.”

It’s then that she gives up on not making a scene. She thinks a scene is exactly what he needs to knock some sense into his head. “Okay. Here’s the thing. Percy and I have been best friends since my freshman year. We’re dating now, but we’ve always been best friends first. You showed up this year and just assumed that you knew Percy and I, and what was best for us, but you don’t.”

“It’s not my fault if Percy is jealous—”

“No,” she interrupts. “It’s not my fault that _you’re_ jealous.”

Luke looks at her in disagreement.

“You’re sitting here trying to convince me that Percy doesn’t respect me, but it’s _you_ that doesn’t respect me. You couldn’t grasp onto the fact that I have something you don’t, and you tried to make me lose _everything!_ ”

“That’s ridiculous, Annabeth.”

“Oh, it’s psychotic,” she agrees, “but that’s exactly what you did. So believe me when I say no, I don’t want to be friends. I don’t love you, and I never have, and I never will. You’re a terrible person, and yet you’ve managed to convince so many people that you’re not. How you did it is beyond me, but I’m done with it.”

It feels really good to watch Luke’s face fall. She knows everything she’s said is correct though, when he doesn’t even begin to look remorseful. He looks angry to be called out, and he looks annoyed. His shoulders are tense, and his eyes roll as he locks his jaw, and it’s amazing.

Even when Percy was at his worst, he never looked like this. He never looked like he wanted to hurt her, he never had that fire in his eyes that threatened to bring the whole world crashing down.

Annabeth doesn’t even grace him with another word as she stands from her position on the floor. She gets out of the band room as fast as she can, nearly bumping into Piper as she opens the door. Piper wordlessly follows Annabeth away, but Piper looks oddly gleeful.

“You handed him his ass, didn’t you?” Piper asks. “Oh, _please_ tell me you handed his ass to him.”

“I am not a violent soul,” Annabeth says, but she opens the door to Piper’s car with so much force that it says otherwise. “I basically told him to go fuck himself.”  
  
“Well, it’s about time. I never liked him.”

“Oh, please,” Annabeth says. “You were his friend.”  
  
“I was never Luke’s friend, actually. You kind of shoved him into the friend group and he latched on. Like a leech.”

Annabeth sinks down into Piper’s seat, crossing her arms grumpily. “That’s an accurate analogy. He is a leech.”

Piper laughs. “Oh, babe.”

“You know how people are always saying that the band isn’t just a band, but a family?”

“What about it?”  
  
“I don’t think that’s true anymore. I don’t want the band to be my family.”

“That’s fair,” Piper says. “They don’t need to be.”

“You and Percy and Leo. You guys are my family.”

“I’m honored to make the cut,” Piper jokes. “I say we seal it with a big ‘fuck you’ to the band.”  
  
“We should say a big ‘fuck you’ to Luke,” Annabeth adds.

“Maybe different terminology though.”

“You’re right. ‘Screw Luke.’” Annabeth scratches her neck. “No, that’s not any better.”

Piper cackles. “We’ll just stick with the band has been nothing but a pain this year, and we would like a divorce.”

Annabeth smiles lightly at the thought. “Getting a divorce would imply we’re done with band.”  
  
“Are we not?”

“Well, you’re going to NYU, and I’m going to NYU. Are we not going to be in marching band?”

“I’m not sure if I want to,” Piper admits. “It’s been a part of our lives for six years now, and I think it’s hard to let it go, but… I think I’m done.”

“You’re going to leave me to be in band by myself?” Annabeth pouts.

Piper gives her a scolding look. “Don’t tell me you plan on staying in band.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Have you actually _enjoyed_ being in band this year?”

Annabeth isn’t sure of the answer herself. It’s a part of her life, and she doesn’t know what she would do without it. But has she only been doing it because it’s what she knows, or because she actually wants to be?

“I love band,” she decides, because it’s the truth.

“You said yourself that it doesn’t feel like a family.” Piper turns her car on. “Besides, you don’t plan on going into anything music related. And you won’t be in band with Percy either. So why do it if you’re not going to have fun?”

It doesn’t feel like a family sometimes. It’s hard to make a family when there are so many people there, but she does have a smaller family that she found through band, and she doesn’t know if she’s ready to give that up yet.

“Now you’re making me doubt my existence.”

“Call your boyfriend already and go have some lovely apologetic sex,” Piper says, laughing. “Maybe he can help with your existential crisis then.”

Annabeth rolls her eyes lovingly but pulls out her phone.

* * *

Annabeth doesn’t intend to fall asleep while she’s waiting for Percy to respond, but she’s also running on only two hours of sleep so it’s hardly a surprise when she does. When she blinks her eyes open again, there isn’t any sunlight flooding through the window, and it’s dark in her room.

She stretches languidly, and her foot hits something hard. She doesn’t think much of it until that thing grabs her foot and she nearly screams.

“Good morning,” Percy teases, letting go of her foot.

Annabeth is still on the verge of a heart attack as she squints at him in the dark. “How did you get in here?”  
  
“Your dad let me in,” he tells her. “It’s a bit rude to invite someone over and then fall asleep, don’t you think?”

“You could’ve woken me up.”

“I could have,” he says, “but you were so cute sleeping, and I couldn’t wake you up.”

She sits up now, kicking him lightly. He just grabs her foot again and tugs her lightly towards him. “So you just sat there for hours watching me sleep?”

“I think so? I might have fallen asleep at some point too, but I don’t actually remember.” Percy messes with Annabeth for a bit, shifting her until she’s resting on his lap so his fingers can twirl strands of her hair. It calms her down for a bit as she remembers why exactly he’s here. She wonders if he’s doing it for that reason, because he wants to reassure her that he’s there, and they’re okay. “Love you,” he comments lightly, dropping her hair so he can trace over her eyelashes and tap her on the nose.

Annabeth scrunches her face as he continues to tease her. “Go away.”

“You invited me here, silly.”

“Hm.” Annabeth turns her head away from him. It’s dark in the room, but she doesn’t even want to face him with the rush of blood to her cheeks.

Percy leans over her slightly, fingers tilting her chin so she has to look at him. “You gonna talk to me?”

“No.”  
  
“We’re just going to sit here and enjoy each other’s presence then?”

“I’d much rather do that, yes.”

“Me too, but I get the feeling that you asked me to come over for more than just snuggles,” he says. “Talk to me, please?”

She feels small under his gaze, knowing that she was in the wrong. But he’s still sitting by her side, holding her tight, and the least she can do is at least try to explain, even if she still isn’t sure herself.

“Luke.” She blinks up at the ceiling as Percy brushes her hand. “I met him at band camp. I was crying, and he was nice, and so we became friends pretty quick. I don’t think he was acting clingy at the time, or maybe he was and I didn’t realize it. Then you met him, and didn’t like him, and you met him again and still didn’t like him.”

She hears Percy’s light laugh.

“It was in January I think when he sent a whole _I’m in love with you_ thing, and I thought he was kidding. Then he did it again, and I told him to stop, and that was it. I promise I didn’t like what he was saying.”

“That’s not why I was upset though. I want to know why you didn’t tell me that if it had happened months before.”

“I wasn’t _trying_ to hide it, necessarily. I just didn’t say anything.”

“But _why?_ Did you think I’d get mad at you or something?”

“I knew you wouldn’t like him saying that, and you’re already so far away that I just… didn’t think it would matter? I didn’t want to make you mad or risk ruining our relationship?”

“Annabeth.”

“Shut up. I know it’s stupid.”

“I just want you tell me stuff like that. I’m not going to get _mad_ about it if you just tell me what’s going on. I care about you.”  
  
“I know.”

“I can tell you don’t like talking about this very much,” he says.

“Not really, no.”

“Good, because I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Just promise me that you’ll talk to me no matter what, okay?”

Annabeth nods, a laugh forced out of her as Percy squishes her cheeks and comes closer.

“Say you promise,” he whispers, “or else I won’t kiss you.”

“What ever will I do without your kisses,” she deadpans. Percy squishes her cheeks again, a playful threat, and kisses her softly, so she smiles and says, “I promise.”

He lets her go and she shifts to get more comfortable against him again. Her eyes have adjusted to the dark by now, and she’s looking him in the eyes. She can just barely see the faint tint of his irises, and she could drown in him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you though,” she says.

“I forgive you,” he says, nudging her with his nose. “It happened, and it’s fixed. There’s no point in dwelling over it.”

“I love you,” she breathes against him.

“I love you too,” he whispers back. “Have I missed anything important this week?” he asks. His fingers curl over the skin over her arm, a light tickle.

“Not really. Nothing _happened,_ but I don’t know. This feels different in general.”  
  
“What feels different?”  
  
“Life,” she breathes out, dramatically letting her arms flop out. “Is this what it feels like to be a senior? Things feel panicked all the time, and you just run around trying to figure out what’s going on?”

“Pretty much.”

“Hm.” Annabeth twiddles her thumbs, thinking of anything she could tell him, and then she is suddenly very nervous again, remembering what Piper had brought up earlier. It had been on her mind ever since. “There is one thing.”

“What?”

“Should I stay in band in college?”

Percy wheezes. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know if I want to do band next year.”

“I mean, you don’t have to, but why wouldn’t you want to?”

She shrugs. “I want to do it, but it’s going to be completely different. I don’t think Piper’s doing it.”

"Of course things are going to change, but that’s not a bad thing. I actually think you’ll prefer university marching band to high school.”

“So I should do it?”

“I think you should do whatever you want to do,” he says. “It would feel weird knowing you’re not in band, I have to admit.”

“So you’ll only love me if I play the piccolo?”

“I’d love you if you were a plumber, and I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before too.” Percy leans down so that he can plant a kiss to her nose. “I think you should try it though. Don’t let your love for music end here. There’s still so much to go. All those half-time performances, and cute uniforms.”

“I do love the cute uniforms.”

“I don’t think it’s time for the story to end just yet.”

His words make sense, and they help reassure her. There’s still so much to go. Lots of things are going to change when she graduates, but maybe this isn’t one of them. Maybe music is something meant to stay in her life. For right now, at least.

It feels right. This is who she is. She will always be that piccolo player that met the saxophone at band camp and fell in love. She thinks her and Percy will survive whether or not music is still there, so it comes down to whether or not she’s ready to let the story end quite yet.

Annabeth doesn’t think she is.

* * *

Life seems to be on speed run from that point on. She hardly has time to breathe as the months pass, and before she knows it, she’s standing at graduation in her cap and gown. It’s bittersweet, knowing that everything is ending. But it’s also a new beginning. The next stage of her life. It’s a step into a future with the love of her life.

And they’ve made it through. Her and Percy came out on the other side. She really doesn’t know why she had been so worried on the first day of band camp without him. They fought like hell, and she knows now that the promise of forever is a true one.

As she walks out of the graduation venue, she sees Percy standing there. She wastes no time in rushing into his arms, swaying back and forth before he gives her a quick kiss.

“I’m so proud of you,” he says, a beaming smile. “You did it!”

“ _We_ did it,” she says.

“I told you I’d be waiting here for you,” he says. “You’re my forever.”  
  
“I’m not just some try-hard piccolo?”

“You’re so much more to me than just another band kid,” he says.

They’re Percy and Annabeth, the two band kids who fell in love on the first day of band camp. They will always be those two woodwinds no matter where life takes them.

Percy holds out his hand for her. “Forever?”

The promise that has followed her this year. The thing to keep her strong.

She takes his hand. “Forever.”

This is their promise, and their future. It’s the end of an era as they walk away, hand in hand, and don’t look back. Things are changing, but it’s okay.

It’s not the end of their story, though. Not yet.

In no time at all, it’s the first day of band camp, and she is a freshman once again. She’s not as nervous as she was the first time around. She looks around for him, holding her instrument in one hand. She’s getting a bit impatient, and—  
A pair of familiar arms slide around her, and she doesn’t need to turn around to know who it is.

“Looking for someone?” Percy whispers into her ear, sending chills down her spine.

“No,” she lies, twisting in his arms. “I was just taking in the scenery.”

“Sure you were,” he says, pouting his lips for a kiss. She obliges, smiling against him.

“Everything’s changed,” she says, holding up her instrument. “I haven’t marched for the last two years. I’m not sure I remember how."

"It’s a good thing you have me here to help you then,” he says. “You’ll catch on fast. You always do.”

“I caught onto you pretty fast,” she says teasingly.

“That’s okay because I fell in love pretty fast too. I practically dived headfirst in love.”

She shakes her head fondly as he laces their hands and drags her off towards the field. He looks over his shoulder to give her a breathtaking grin, and she knows she is exactly where she is supposed to be.

This is who she is, and this is what she has become. Percy and Annabeth are together, and she thinks that it was always meant to be this way. They were always meant to meet that day so many years ago, and they were always meant to fall in love.

Things have changed, but one thing has stayed true, and that is their love for one another.

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy! also follow me on tumblr @ annabethy


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